Comfort pillow

ABSTRACT

A comfort pillow is disclosed. The comfort pillow includes a breathable cover member with an internal cavity and a pellet filling. The pellet filling is comprised of a plurality of pellets, stuffed within the breathable cover member&#39;s internal cavity. Each pellet in the plurality of pellets would have a plurality of small fibers extending from each pellet, to improve cushioning and air flow.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit to provisional application 60/586,022,filed on Jul. 7, 2004, entitled “Comfort Pillow”, which is incorporatedherein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of pillow designs, and inparticular to a breathable pillow stuffed with pellets.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a struggle to design the perfect pillow, inventors and companies havedeveloped pillows with stuffing ranging from cotton and syntheticmaterials to bird feathers and buckwheat. In each of these applicationsat least one problem exists with the designs; these problems includeheat retention, noise, structural degradation in a short time span, anduneven compression. As a result, numerous pillow fillings have beenintroduced into the market in an attempt to create the perfect pillow.

U.S. Patent Application No. 20030200609 discloses a cushioning device.The cushioning device has a flexible container and a plurality ofpolymeric beads within the flexible container which flows under a slightforce and shears easily. The cushioning device is capable of receiving aphysical object that applies a force to the cushion. When the force isinitially applied to the cushioning device, the cushioning device isdeformed to conform to the physical object from its original shape. Whenthe physical object is not applying the force, the cushioning devicereverts to a shape that is close to but not identical to the originalshape, except for a limited number of materials such as moldedelastomeric materials. In addition, the pressure exerted by the cushionon the physical object will reduce pressure that would cause tissuedamage and lead to decubitus ulcers.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,235,391 discloses a resilient material shaped into abent strand with a preferred length from 1.5 to 7 inches forms a fillingelement for cushions, pillows and upholstered articles. The strand maybe bent so as to have a Z-shape or an S-shape or a V-shape or a C-shapealong a portion of its length. The length of the strand is greater thanits nominal cross-sectional thickness. A quantity of filling elements(e.g., the filling material), preferably formed from flexible, open cellpolyurethane foam, is inserted or blown into a casing for a cushion,pillow or upholstered article. Following compression, the fillingelements rebound substantially to their uncompressed state withoutclumping together or leaving pockets within the casing.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,470 discloses a pillow structure formed with anouter cover or casing in which a foam shell is enclosed, where in ahorizontally disposed partition being mounted in the shell along thehorizontal central axis of the pillow structure, wherein the partitioncontrols the random movement of beads enclosed within each compartmentdefined by the partition, whereby the beads are prevented from moving orbeing transferred between the respective juxtaposed compartments.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,200 discloses a composite foamed material and aprocess for the production thereof are disclosed herein, the processcomprising premixing expandable or expanded polystyrene beads, a binderand fragments of resilient, open-celled neoprene. The materials arecombined in the proportions of about 4-15% polystyrene beads, about6-25% binder and about 60-90% open-celled neoprene. The combinedmaterials are preferably compressed to a density of about 5-30 lbs. percubic foot, more preferably 5-17 lbs. per cubic foot, and steam isapplied to the compressed materials to cure the binder, and in certainembodiments to expand the polystyrene beads, thereby producing thedesired composite foamed material.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,801 discloses a seating structure removably receivesa typically amorphous styrofoam pellet-filled body cushion. The seatingstructure includes a shell for holding the cushion and a pedestal forsupporting the shell on a floor surface. In the preferred embodiment theshell has a bottom portion, rear support, side and front portionsintegral with, and extending generally upward from, said bottom todefine a contoured and shaped cushion-receiving cavity. The shell isgenerally concavo-convex in shape with the pedestal attached to theconvex underside of the shell. The pedestal is additionally adapted toremovably receive casters or detachable base supports.

U.S. Patent Application No. 20040019972 discloses a cushioning apparatussuch as a pillow which includes an upper pocket with reception cavityfor receiving preferably loose or grouped non-integral filler materialsuch as down, fiberfill or fiber-balls and another pocket for receivingadditional filler material such as a foam core filler material. The foamcore filler material is preferably an integrated or monolithic foam bodyof, for example, visco-elastic or alternate polyurethane foam. The corepreferably has a non-planar upper surface contour allowing for arelatively thin, consistent height upper pocket thickness. The pillowalso preferably includes a lower pocket joined about its periphery tothe upper pocket such as by way of an intermediate gusset panel withbeading and with the lower pocket also receiving loose or non-integratedfiller material and with the bottom surface of the core preferablyhaving a convex surface such as one symmetrical with the top surface.

There is a need however, for a breathable comfort pillow that does notretain heat, while being hypoallergenic, durable, silent, and extremelycomfortable.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a breathable comfortpillow that does not retain heat.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a breathablecomfort pillow that is hypoallergenic, durable, silent, and extremelycomfortable.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide abreathable comfort pillow that can be inexpensively manufactured withcommon manufacturing techniques.

In accordance with the first aspect of the present invention, a novelcomfort pillow is disclosed. The novel comfort pillow includes abreathable cover member, having a top portion and a bottom portion, saidtop portion's perimeter edge integrally connected to said bottomportion's perimeter edge, to form a sealed internal cavity and a pelletfilling, comprised of a plurality of pellets, stuffed within saidbreathable cover member's sealed internal cavity.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a novelcomfort pillow is disclosed. The novel comfort pillow includes abreathable cover member, having main sleeve portion closed at both ends,to form a sealed internal cavity and a pellet filling, comprised of aplurality of spherical hot stamped neoprene pellets, with a plurality ofsmall fibers extending from each pellet, stuffed within said breathablecover member's sealed internal cavity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description ofa preferred embodiment of the present invention will be betterunderstood when read with reference to the appended drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cutaway view of a comfort pillow in accordance with thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective cutaway view of a pellet of the comfort pillowof FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer tothe same components across the several views, and in particular to FIG.1, there is shown a comfort pillow 10. The comfort pillow 10 includes abreathable cover member 12. In a preferred embodiment, the breathablecover member 12 is comprised of a main sleeve portion sealed at eachend, to form a sealed internal cavity. In alternate embodiments, thebreathable cover member 12 could be made in any form, so long as it issealable to form an internal cavity.

The comfort pillow 10 further includes a pellet filling 11. The pelletfilling 11 is comprised of a plurality of pellets 21. In a preferredembodiment, each pellet 21 would be spherical and constructed fromneoprene 23, to provide soft and durable cushioning. In alternateembodiments, each pellet 21 could be formed into any shape andconstructed from any material, including foam and composite materials,known to an expert versed in the prior art.

Further, in a preferred embodiment, each pellet 21 is manufactured andheat sealed in a hot stamp process, to form a durable external shell 24.This hot stamping process introduces miniature fibers 22, which extendfrom the durable external shell 24, to provide additional cushioning,maximized air flow, and sound buffering. In alternate embodiments, eachpellet 21 could be coated with an elastomeric substance or any othermaterial known by an expert versed in the prior art to increasedurability. Each pellet could also be manufactured through a cold pressor other process known to an expert versed in the prior art.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed and illustrated, modifications may be made by one of ordinaryskill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

1. A comfort pillow, comprising: a breathable cover member, having a topportion and a bottom portion, said top portion's perimeter edgeintegrally connected to said bottom portion's perimeter edge, to form asealed internal cavity; and a pellet filling, comprised of a pluralityof pellets, stuffed within said breathable cover member's sealedinternal cavity.
 2. The comfort pillow of claim 1, wherein each pelletfrom said pellet filling's plurality of pellets is constructed frommaterials chosen from a group including foam, neoprene, and compositematerials, to provide soft and durable cushioning to said pelletfilling.
 3. The comfort pillow of claim 1, wherein each pellet from saidpellet filling's plurality of pellets is heat sealed to form aprotective outer coating on each pellet, to provide additionaldurability to said filling.
 4. The comfort pillow of claim 1, wherein.each pellet from said pellet filling's plurality of pellets is coatedwith an elastomeric material to form a protective outer coating on eachpellet, to provide additional durability to said filling.
 5. The comfortpillow of claim 1, wherein each pellet from said pellet filling'splurality of pellets has a plurality of fibers extending from itsexterior, to improve cushioning, air flow, and sound buffering withinsaid comfort pillow.
 6. The comfort pillow of claim 1, wherein eachpellet from said pellet filling's plurality of pellets can bemanufactured through a hot stamp manufacturing process.
 7. The comfortpillow of claim 1, wherein each pellet from said pellet filling'splurality of pellets can be manufactured through a cold pressmanufacturing process.
 8. A comfort pillow, comprising: a breathablecover member, having main sleeve portion closed at both ends, to form asealed internal cavity; and a pellet filling, comprised of a pluralityof spherical hot stamped neoprene pellets, with a plurality of smallfibers extending from each pellet, stuffed within said breathable covermember's sealed internal cavity.